


Mark Lee and the Disappearing Demigods

by pocketsfulloftyongs



Category: NCT (Band), Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Ships are on the side, also very slow burn so, assorted cameo idols, don't hold ur breath, my very first fic please be gentle, not rly the point of the fic, relationships tbd - Freeform, the gangs all here baby!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24638437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketsfulloftyongs/pseuds/pocketsfulloftyongs
Summary: During quite possibly, the weirdest day of Mark Lee's life, he stumbles across a camp situated in the middle of the woods on Long Island, full of the strangest people he's ever met that keep trying to tell him he's the son of a god? He just wants to go home...
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee (NCT) & Everyone
Comments: 7
Kudos: 34





	1. Mark's Very Bad No Good Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first time writing a fic! its not great lmao but im having fun and this'll be my quarantine project so :) 
> 
> also! everyone rn is gonna be from mark's pov having never met them before so they may come across as the stereotypes people have for them but as mark gets to know them that'll change so stay tuned!

Mark liked Saturdays, really he did. But usually his Saturdays did not include running for his life through the Long Island forest with a half man half bull creature hot on his heels. Usually he'd be at home with a nice tub of ice cream and a variety show on. Maybe play his guitar. That would be nice. Playing his guitar right now instead of tripping over roots and rocks. His heart was going a million miles per hour and his whole body felt so slow. Maybe this was a dream? That would explain the Minotaur, he supposed. Just as he thought this, he spotted a clearing between the trees, some sort of valley. He couldn't see very well but any salvation from this godforsaken forest would be very welcome. He turned just to see the monster raising its massive club, big enough to turn Mark into a red smear with little effort. Funny how a little mortal terror is just the thing to get the legs pumping faster, Mark thought to himself as he managed one last spurt of energy before, in the most dramatic way possible, tripping over a large root and tumbling down the grassy hill beyond the trees. 

He spat out a large mouth-full of dirt after he finally skid to a stop. 

"Ugh..."

He looked up just in time to see a huge shadow leaning over him.

"Holy shit dude, that was a nasty fall are you alright?"

Mark slapped the side of his face with the flat of his palm, knocking his swimming vision back into place.

"Yeah." 

Not really. His whole body ached and the adrenaline he has been running on was fresh out now that he wasn't in mortal danger.

"I'm Johnny."

The guy stuck his hand out and Mark grabbed it and was promptly pulled up by a tug from Johnny. The guy was ridiculously tall, Mark himself wasn't short per say, a decent 5'9 but this guy had to be 6'0 at least. He made Mark feel like a kid next to him. Johnny had longish brown hair and lips that curled up at the sides like a cat. His eyes where friendly and a little playful. He had the sort of vibe of a fun older brother. Mark didn't have an older brother, but Johnny just sorta felt like one.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! Usually new folks don’t come tumbling in, but hey at least you made it here alive right? “

Mark looked down at himself, covered head to toe in dirt and his shirt torn in several places. 

"Yeah... Uh, what did you say this place was called again...?"

"Camp Half-Blood, we’ll explain everything later. New cam- Visitors get the whole orientation shpeel.” 

“Excuse me new what-”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it! Lemmie introduce you to-”

“JOHNNY!”

Another boy was sprinting over to him, looking like the sky was falling down. The boy nearly slipped in his haste to get over to him and leaned over to catch his breath once he got there.

“What’s up Jaemin?”

“Chiron needs to talk to you, it’s hella urgent.”

“Damn.. Can you take the new kid to Taeyong then?”

“What am I, a mailman now?” Johnny clapped his hand on Jaemin’s shoulder and laughed.

“You’re young. You’ll be fine.” Jaemin made a sour face and shook his head.

“Whatever hag.”

Johnny laughed again before jogging off towards the camp.

Jaemin crossed his arms and turned to Mark.  
“Alright newbie. What’s your name?”

“Mark.” 

Jaemin flashed him one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen and he felt his stomach do some weird flips. Maybe he was sick. 

“Nice to meet you Mark! I’m Jaemin. Let's go find Tyong.”

He grabbed Mark's hand and led him towards the outskirts of camp. “So. What is this place?” Mark figured while he had the chance he'd try and get some answers.

“Camp Half Blood. It’s a safe place for people like us.”

“Us…?” 

Jaemin stopped and gave Mark a weird look. 

“Have you been to orientation yet?”

Mark shook his head.

“Ah. Chiron’ll explain it to you.”

“Johnny said that too.”

Jaemin laughed. “Must be frustrating but dude it’s so much you’ll just get more confused if I try and explain it.”  
They stopped in front of a lush beautiful garden. It had a big arch of rocks into a windy little path that led deeper into the foliage. Mark looked around, amazed.

“Holy shit… There's no way all of these can grow here.”

Jaemin shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Taeyong can grow anything. Speaking of…” Jaemin let go of Mark’s hand to cup his around his mouth and yell “TAEYONG!!”  
A moment's silence and then there was rustling in the large leaves next to them and another boy popped his head out from between them.

“You called?”

Mark was getting real tired of every kid in this camp being drop dead gorgeous. Taeyong had pastel pink hair and the biggest puppy eyes Mark had ever seen. His features where so delicate he reminded Mark of a fairy.

“We got a new kid but Johnny has to meet with Chiron and said to bring him to you.”

“Me?” Taeyong ran a hand through his hair. “Alright then. I guess I gotta give him the tour huh.” He came out from the bushes and tried to get some of the dirt off his hands.

“Who’s Chiron?” Mark was tired of having no clue what everyone was talking about.

“He’s in charge of the camp.” Taeyong wrapped an arm around Mark and got even more dirt on his absolutely ruined shirt. “You look like crap by the way, what happened?”

Jaemin nodded. “Yeah I didn’t want to say anything but you look like you dug your way here. Are you a mole?”

“I hope not. Moles keep messing up my garden.”

“Guys I’m not a mole. I just was running and I tripped and rolled in. It was an accident, really.”

“An accident, huh?” Taeyong tapped his cheek. “Why were you running anyway?”

“... Exercise?” Mark cringed on the inside. Seriously? Exercise? This place was in the middle of nowhere, no one would believe a crappy excuse like that. And with the looks Jaemin and Taeyong were giving him, they definitely weren't buying it. But his only other option was saying he was chased by a Minotaur and them sending him to a mental asylum.

“Mhm…” Taeyong shook his head. “Alright Jaemin, I’m gonna give Mark the tour. You can come along if you want?”

“Nah. Ten asked me to help him organize his collection, he said if I help out he’ll let me in on the hustle.”

“We both know he won’t do that.”

Jaemin let out a long suffering sigh. “Yeah. Why do they get to have all the fun anyway?”

Taeyong ruffled Jaemin’s hair. “You're too young. Wait a couple years.” 

“Whatever. I’ll come with you guys then.”

Taeyong beamed at him and started guiding the both of them towards the center of camp. Mark knew he should tell Taeyong no, that he should stop this whole tour thing right now because he had no interest in joining this weird camp thing. All he wanted to do was go home and take a long hot shower. But he couldn’t just run for it, he was really exhausted and everyone here looked really in shape. In the end, if he had to stay the night, he could always sneak out then.

“Alrighty!” Taeyong processed to give Mark a whirlwind tour of the strangest camp he had seen in his life, their climbing wall had lava and spikes, there was an entire arena, stable, and amphitheater. Mark assumed this was a place eccentric rich people would send their kids. Jaemin and Taeyong didn’t seem like rich kids, but they definitely had a weird vibe. The whole place was greek mythology themed, a weird theme for a camp if you asked Mark. Maybe it was a place for history buffs.

“Ok! Now we show the cabins.” 

Taeyong gestured to the first building on the right.

“Here we have the Demeter Cabin, this is my home!”

The cabin was covered in greenery, so much that Mark could only barely see the light tan paint underneath. It had beautiful flowers blooming everywhere and big tomatoes growing off the vines that encapsulated the building.

“How do you.. get in?” The door was similarly covered in vines making it impossible to enter.  
“Easy!” Taeyong placed his hand on the door and immediately all the vines rustled back and rearranged themselves to uncover the door. Mark was now certain he had lost his mind.

“I see.”

Jaemin quickly grabbed Taeyongs hand and pulled it away from the door so all the vines would move back to their original positions.

“Anyway! Next cabin!” He grabbed Mark’s hand as well and dragged both of them away from the bush of a building.

“Alright! Alright! This is the Athena cabin.”  
Taeyong pulled his hand away from Jaemin and made a big sweeping gesture towards the cabin. This cabin was the polar opposite to Demeter’s, it was grey and simple with a owl design over the door.  
“Knock knock!~” Taeyong said, while just opening the door. 

“Gods, Taeyong how many times do I have to tell you that just saying knock does not equate to actually knocking!” An annoyed voice said from inside the cabin. Mark peeked in to see a grumpy looking back haired boy sitting in an office chair, glaring daggers at Taeyong with his arms crossed.

“Aw Doyoungieee!~” Taeyong seemed completely oblivious to the sour look on Doyoung’s face and pulled him out of his chair into a near suffocating hug. Doyoung made a sound somewhere between a squawk and a snort and struggled in Taeyong’s grip.

“Augh let me go! I need to finish the final drafts for this chariot before the war games-”

“The war games? Do you care about the war games more than me?? And my love???” Taeyong said, faking distress.

“AnD mY lOvE” Doyoung mocked, “The only thing you love is disturbing my work.”

“You know what I love more than disturbing your work?”

“What.”

“You~”

Both Doyoung and Jaemin made the most dramatic hacking sound, Jaemin physically recoiling from the door and falling down onto the grass outside. 

“That was DISGUSTING.” 

Doyoung struggled out of his grip and pushed him away.

“You’ve been hanging out with Johnny too much.” Doyoung huffed. 

“Yeah.” Taeyong didn’t sound even the slightest bit ashamed of himself. He looked like the human manifestation of the knife cat. 

“Who’s that?” Doyoung finally noticed Mark standing awkwardly in the doorframe. 

“Oh him? New kid. Me and Jaemin are showing him around.”

“You’re showing him around?” Doyoung turned to Mark. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey!” Taeyong feigned insult. “I’ve been doing a great job, thank you very much!”

Doyoung raised an eyebrow. “Sure.” He walked over to Mark. “Hope they didn’t wear you out too much, they’re both such a handful even by themselves. My name’s Doyoung by the way.” He reached out a hand for Mark to shake, which he accepted.

“Mark.” God, finally someone normal.

“I’ll come with you guys, my workflow has been thrown out of whack anyway.”

Taeyong again, looked entirely too happy with himself.

“Lets go!”


	2. You're a Demigod Mark!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark never really liked horses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hoho a second chapter

The next cabin was all silver and glittered in the sunlight. It looked like it had been cast from molten metal and was covered in carvings of wild animals.

“Yeah this is the Artemis cabin. It’s empty most of the time unless the hunters come visit.” Taeyong motioned vaguely to the cabin. “They say that if a man goes in there, his junk falls off.”

“They do not.” Doyoung corrected after seeing the terrified look on Mark’s face. “Though you still should never go in there.”

“Understood.” Mark made a mental note to avoid it like the plague. 

Taeyong turned to the next cabin. “And over here is the polar opposite to Artemis, the Aphrodite cabin. You should be cautious around these guys, they're shifty as hell.”

“Hey!” Jaemin shoved Taeyong. “Aphrodite kids are all angels.” 

Both Taeyong and Doyoung gave Jaemin the most unimpressed look. “Mhm.” They said in time with each other.

“Ok not all of us.” Jaemin admitted. “Mark, you should really keep your guard up though, Ten is a menace and you should never blindly trust him. Great guy but crafty as hell.”

Mark nodded. Little did they know, he trusted none of them. Except maybe Doyoung, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Really none of them felt like bad people, but they were all so strange and he still had no idea where he really was or what the purpose of this camp was. For all he knew, he was being indoctrinated into some weird cult.

Taeyong, Doyoung, and Jaemin guided Mark through cabin upon cabin, each one looked strange and was filled with even stranger people. They didn’t peek inside most of the cabins like they did the Athena one, mostly just pointing out the name of each cabin. Occasionally a camper would come out to say hello, and everyone seemed to be really friendly with each other. Everyone wore the same bright orange t-shirt that read “Camp Half Blood” on it. What kind of cult had matching t-shirts? Maybe that’s what cults are like now-a-days, Mark thought to himself.

“What are the two big ones in the center?” Mark had been wondering what they were for, as they were twice the size as all the others and seemed empty. No campers had entered or exited their entire tour.

“Oh that's the Zeus cabin and the Hera cabin,” Doyoung said, gesturing towards the two buildings. “They’re really just there as symbols. The Big Three aren't allowed to have kids and Hera just doesn’t do that sort of thing.”

“Doesn’t stop ‘em though.” Jaemin pointed out. “Zeus has a habit of boning anything that moves and Hades and Posiedon make exceptions sometimes.”

“Seems like Zeus has been doing better lately though. We haven’t had a kid of his in years.” Doyoung crossed his arms. “Let's keep it that way too. They’re too much trouble.”

“You guys are talking like they’re actually the kids of gods.” Mark pointed out. Everyone knows greek mythology is just that, mythology… Right? Taeyong made a weird face, like he had eaten a lemon, and Jaemin snickered to himself. Doyoung looked between the two of them and sighed. “Yeah they’ll cover that in orientation.” 

Taeyong clapped loudly. “Anyways! Here we have the Apollo cabin-” As he said this, two kids came barreling out of this cabin.

“HAECHAN I SWEAR TO EVERY SINGLE GOD IN EXISTENCE IF YOU COME NEAR ME”

“JISUNGIIEEEE COME BACK HERE~” Haechan was covered head to toe in gold glitter and had his arms splayed open for a hug. “LET ME LOVE YOU!”

Jisung made a sharp turn and came straight at them, he nearly knocked Mark off his feet and came to a stop behind Doyoung. 

“Woah woah woah do not bring me into this.” Doyoung tried to get away from Jisung but Haechan was in the way, trying to reach around him to grab Jisung. 

“That stuff doesn’t wash off for days! I’ll have to burn my clothes-” Jisung dodged Haechan’s attempts to smother him, using Doyoung as a very reluctant shield.

“I’m gonna have it down my asscrack for like a week, you have too many clothes anyway!” Haechan argued and made another grab for him.

“If you get any of that on me Lee Donghyuk, I will make you regret it!” Doyoung threatened. “Go get yourself cleaned up and stop terrorizing your cabin-mates. Haechan rolled his eyes but backed off. He attempted to dust some of the glitter off but it did absolutely nothing, just releasing a puff of glitter down onto the grass but seemingly leaving just as much still on his shirt. 

“You’re no fun Doyoung, ya know that?”

“You’re just a little goblin. Go shower.”

Jisung waited until Haechan was out of sight to relax and let go of his makeshift shield. 

“Thanks. Jeno made another glitter bomb trap over his bed and he decided he wanted to make it my problem too.” Jisung finally turned to Mark.  
“Who’s this?”

“New kid.” Taeyong looked tired of having to repeat it. “After Orientation we can introduce him for real at dinner.”

Jisung hummed and looked Mark up and down. “I’m betting Hermes.”

“Already?” Jaemin gave Jisung a weird look. “You just met him.”

“And? I have a sixth sense and I’m always right.”  
Jisung said smugly. “I’ve guessed every new camper correctly for a whole month now. It’s my best streak yet.”

“You totally just jinxed yourself.” Jaemin grinned. Jisung made an insulted face. Before he could say anything though, another voice interrupted them.

“Mark!” It was Johnny, jogging towards them. “Sorry I had to go so quickly!” He stopped and placed a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Come on, it's time for you to see Chiron. You’ll finally get some answers.” 

Mark let out a huge sigh of relief. “Finally!” He was a little nervous though. He knew things here were a little strange. He was afraid of what he may have gotten himself into, after the faces the others would make after certain questions he was uncertain if he really wanted to know the answers. Johnny seemed unbothered though, simply guiding Mark to a large house on a hill not far from the cabins. 

“This is The Big House.” He said simply before guiding Mark up onto the porch. Sitting there was a man in a frayed tweed jacket on a wheelchair reading an old leather bound book. He turned when they entered and smiled gently at Mark. “So you’re the new camper.”

Mark made an uncomfortable face. He was sick and tired of everyone deciding he was just a part of this whole shtick. “Sir I really don’t know what's going on here, but I just want to go home.” Chiron raised an eyebrow and adjusted himself in his chair. “Mark, do you know what this camp is for?”

Mark scrunched his nose. “No. Feels like some kind of themed history buff party.” Johnny snickered behind him. Chiron just nodded slowly. 

“Well. How much do you know about Greek Mythology?”

“Well enough to know everyone here is way too into it.” Mark isn't usually this grumpy, but something about running for your life, rolling down a hill, and getting dragged around a weird historian circlejerk really got on his nerves. Johnny’s shoulders were shaking weirdly.

“Well I guess it can look that way from the outside. What if I told you it was real? Greek mythology that is.”

Mark snorted. “I’d think you’re insane. Can I go home now?”

Chiron shook his head. “Not a good idea. See Mark, you’re something called a demigod.” As he said this he started to rise out of the wheelchair, but instead of standing, the legs stayed put and his waist elongated, revealing silky white fur. One hoof revealed itself and then another. His hindquarters made their way out as well and he moved away from the chair.

“Oh.” Mark struggled to find words, thinking maybe he wasn’t as insane as he thought for the things he saw earlier, or was absolutely off his rocker. He turned to Johnny who seemed to think this was just a regular Saturday event.

“Because you’re a demigod we can’t actually let you leave.” Chiron stretched his arms and cracked his back. The human part of it at least. 

“We’ve had some issues recently that made us have to ban all travel of campers out of the camp. Once this is all figured out though, we can let you go collect your items and go through the admissions process regularly.”

Mark gawked up at him before he finally processed what he was saying. “But I still haven’t said I wanted to be a part of this anyway? And what’s a demigod?”

“Fair enough. How about, once things are safe enough for you to leave you can decide if you’d like to stay?”

Mark nodded hesitantly. He decided there was absolutely no way he’d stay here. He’d just have to wait until night to escape.

“As for the rest, Johnny can help you though that.” Chiron stepped past them and off the porch. “I have to go handle things before Mr. D comes back.”

Johnny slings an arm around Mark. “I got it all covered Chiron!” He waved until Chrion was out of sight and turned to Mark. “Let’s get you settled in ok?” 

“Alright. But dude what the fuck is a demigod” 

“Oh right! Fundamentally a demigod is the kid of a god and a human. So like, when a god bones-”

“Ok I got that part. But you’re telling me the greek gods actually exist?” Mark still was having trouble wrapping his head around everything.

“You just talked with a centaur, and you’re gonna ask me if greek gods exist?” Johnny shook his head. “Anyway, we’ll be having dinner soon. Usually that’s when new demigods get claimed so, you’ll find out for sure then” 

Mark supposed that's why Jaemin and Jisung were betting on what cabin he would be in. Honestly, he was pretty curious himself. None of the kids here had felt like a long lost sibling, though he didn’t really know what finding a long lost sibling felt like in the first place. 

Johnny guided him down to the Hermes cabin. “Since we don’t really know which god is yours, we’ll just let you stay in the Hermes cabin. Since Hermes is the god of travelers we welcome all wayward souls.” He said, dramatically. He swung open the door to reveal a rather large interior. The cabin was old and worn down. “It’s a little gross because it used to hold demigods back when the gods didn’t always claim their kids. That got fixed though, and we’ve been slowly trying to clean the place up. It’s a lot better than it used to be.”

Mark looked around. It was nice in a homey, lived in way. Johnny looked Mark up and down. “Would you like some spare clothes?”  
Mark looked at himself. He was just as covered in dirt as he had been when he first got here and really sweaty. “Yeah.”

Johnny rifled through a shelf of drawers. “I think Hendery has some spare clothes you can borrow. Don’t worry about asking him, he barely wears them anyway.” He pulled an orange shirt that matched his own and a pair of simple cargo shorts. He shoved them into Marks arms.

“Here. Showers are over to the right, can’t miss em.” And with that, Mark was shoved back outside. The sun was getting ready to set and the whole camp had taken on a soft orange glow. 

“Shower fast, dinner’ll be at 10.” Johnny called from inside the cabin.

Mark stumbled off towards the showers. He was exhausted at this point. The info dump from Chiron made him feel even more drained then he had before. Him? A demigod? Sure, his dad had been out of the picture for as long as he could remember but as far as he knew he was just off in California with a new wife. A deadbeat? Sure. An asshole? Definitely. But a god? Mark didn’t feel so sure about that. This had really been the longest day of his life, he thought to himself while figuring out the showerhead. Other people’s showers really felt like spaceships. He finally figured the hot from the cold, not without freezing his balls off first, and finally cleaned the dirt and sweat off himself. While he was still tired, the shower helped him ground himself and he came out nice and refreshed. He pulled on his new borrowed clothes and headed out. 

The sun had set by now and the gentle coolness of the summer night enveloped him. He sighed softly and ran a hand through his soaked hair. Now where was the mess hall again? He noticed a group of rather shifty looking kids eyeing him down. He looked down and hoped they would leave him alone. But when he looked back up they were coming towards him. He gulped and tried walking a little faster but they got to him quickly and before he knew it they had cornered him by the toilets. 

“Fresh meat huh.” The first guy grinned, he was a real meathead, big and buff but looked like he had two braincells max.

A ratty guy next to him looked Mark up and down. “Bet he’s another Hermes fucker.” 

The third guy stepped closer to him and grabbed his arm. “Probably. You been initiated yet?” He had a smile on his face but it wasn’t reassuring at all.

“Uh..” Mark tried to pull his arm away but the guy’s grip was like iron. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Damn he’s really a new kid huh.” He started dragging Mark toward the nearest toilet and Mark had a feeling this really wasn’t going to end well for him. The other guy came up and grabbed Mark’s free arm, helping the first guy man handle him towards the toilet. 

“Keep a good grip on him!” The ratty guy said unhelpfully.

“I got it I got it.” Buff kid said in an annoyed tone. He grabbed Mark’s head and pressed him close to the water. Mark really started struggling now but the guy’s grip was unwavering and Mark really wasn't operating at full capacity right now. But before his nose could touch the water he was yanked back. Or more accurately, guy number one was yanked back. Hard. 

“Hey what the-” He didn’t get to finish his sentence before he was sucker punched right in the face so hard he spun before hitting the ground. The other guy let go of Mark and backed up. 

“Woah woah woah-” He said with his hands up. “Yuta c’mon man-”

Yuta gave him a look that could curdle milk. “C’mon what.” Mark felt his blood run cold just watching him. The other guy pulled his friend up onto his feet and all three backed away. The guy who got punched was swaying on his feet.

“Go back to the cabin. If I see any of you fuckers at dinner I’ll hit you harder then I hit him.” The three thugs nodded and stumbled away. Mark looked up at Yuta, more than a little afraid himself. Yuta shoved his hands in his pockets and stared down at Mark. He had a very intense stare, even if he wasn’t trying. Or at least Mark didn’t think he was trying. 

“Well? Dinner’s already started. Johnny sent me to come get you.” He said simply before turning on his heel and walking away. “C’mon.” 

Mark scrambled onto his feet and followed him.  
“Um… Thanks for helping me.” 

Yuta nodded. “It’s nothing. Aries punks like that get on my nerves. They make all of us look bad.”

“So you’re an Aries kid?” Mark asked. It made sense to him, that punch was so nasty Mark felt it just watching.

“Yeah.” Yuta looked over at Mark. “We have a bit of a reputation, but not all of us are like that. Those fuckers are in for it when I get back to the cabin” Mark almost felt bad for them


	3. Burnt Watermelon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark desperately wants to go to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its a little bit short, but really it just felt right to stop this chapter here. chap 4 should be up soon tho!

Yuta guided him towards the mess hall. Mark took the opportunity to get a good look at him. He was undeniably cool, with long bleached white hair and black side shaves on either side of his head. One of his eyebrows even had a slit in it. Mark wondered if he had a scar there or if he just cut it to look cool. He had a sort of saunter like someone who could fight, clearly he could judging by the way he knocked that kid into next year. He kept his hands in his pockets and had a little bit of a slouch. Once he caught Mark staring and winked at him.

Mark looked away quickly and felt his face getting warm. The kids here are really something else. Maybe something in the water? They finally reached the mess hall and it was full of campers, all in the same orange Camp Half Blood t-shirts. Johnny spotted them and waved Mark over.

“Hey! You clean up well.” Johnny grinned and then turned to Yuta. “Thanks for picking him up.”

Yuta crossed his arms. “Kid almost got dunked. They had him two inches from the toilet before I got there.”

Mark grimaced. The inside of that toilet bowl had been about as nice as he would have expected.

“Damn. Jooheon really needs to get a handle on those punks.” Johnny looked over at Mark. “They didn’t actually get you in did they?” 

Mark shook his head. “Yuta got to them first.” Yuta had a smug smile on his face. “Damn right I did.”

Johnny chuckled. “Would hate to be those poor bastards.” He made eye contact with Mark and patted an empty spot next to him. “Have a seat and we’ll get to eatin.” Yuta went and sat at the table behind them that was full of who Mark assumed were Aries kids. “See the big fire over there?” Johnny pointed to a large bonfire situated in the center of the mess hall. “We take our food over there and toss the nicest part in the fire. It’s a tribute to the gods.” 

Mark scrunched up his nose. He was so fucking hungry and now didn’t even get to eat the best part of his meal. Chiron, who had trotted out into the center of the pavillion, stomped his hoof on the hard marble and raised a glass. 

“To the gods!”

Everyone else grabbed the glasses in front of them so Mark did too. Everyone raised them up and repeated, “To the gods!” Barefoot girls with flowers braided into their hair walked around with large plates of food. “Wood nymphs.” Johnny explained. Upon closer inspection, the girl’s skin had the texture of tree bark. Johnny then pointed to the empty glass in front of Mark. “Just tell it what you want, it fills itself.”

Mark looked at the cup and thought for a second. “Coke.” The glass filled itself with bubbly amber liquid and Mark watched it entranced. 

“Sorry we don’t have any Coke. Pepsi ok?” Johnny said in a deadpan voice.

“Wait really?”

“No.” Johnny laughed. “Taste it for yourself if you want.” Mark took a cautious sip.

“Yeah that's Coke.”

“Sometimes they do actually fill with Pepsi instead just to fuck with campers.” Mark narrowed his eye at Johnny.

“... Seriously?” Mark had a feeling he couldn’t take everything Johnny said at first glance anymore.

“You’ll have to see that for yourself.” Johnny started filling Mark’s plate with food. “Remember to put the best piece in the fire.” Mark nodded and decided the biggest slice of watermelon he’d have to say goodbye to. Tragic.

All the campers got up and made their way to the campfire in the center of the pavilion. Each took the nicest food off their plate and tossed it in. Mark figured the whole area would smell like a mishmash of burned food, but when he got closer all he could smell was sizzling bacon, fresh baked cookies, buttery popcorn and all the most wonderful food smells. “Woah.”

Johnny nudged Mark with his arm. “Smells great right? The gods like it too. That's why we do this. Also they’ll smite us if we dont.” Mark quickly tossed his watermelon slice. It had been the reddest juiciest slice too. A true tragedy.   
“They’ll really smite us?”

“Well I’ve never seen anyone be smited but I’m not keen on testing it either.” Johnny replied as they walked back to the Hermes table. “Hey Hendery. Have you ever seen anyone be smited?” He asked another Hermes kid next to them. He tapped his chin in thought.  
“No? Also is smited the past tense or is it smote.” 

“Smote? That's definitely not a word dude.” Johnny set his plate on the table and sat down, Mark taking the seat beside him. “But smited doesn’t really sound right either.”

Mark tuned them out and finally got to eating his meal. These guys may be weird, but damn could they cook. As he ate, he looked around the mess hall. It was made of marble, with large columns around it. There was no ceiling and Mark wondered what they did if it started to rain. There were 20 tables, one for each cabin. However, some tables were empty. Mark spotted Taeyong sitting with Doyoung so he assumed that campers could sit with other cabins if they really wanted to. Maybe some gods were better at keeping it in their pants then others. Mark made a face. Gross. Taeyong turned and seemed to notice Mark watching him. He waved enthusiastically, annoying Doyoung who was trying to talk to him. Taeyong just grabbed Doyoung’s arm and dragged him over to Mark.

“Mark! How are you enjoying camp? How was orientation?” Taeyong asked him excitedly, ignoring Doyoung who had given up on escaping Taeyong’s grip.

“Um.. It’s kind of a lot but the food’s pretty good. And uh, I’m still having trouble understanding this whole demigod thing.” Mark scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“What’s there to understand. One of your parents boned a-” 

“No! No, I get that part Doyoung.” Mark cut him off. This was the second time today someone was trying to give him the birds and bees talk but with gods. “It’s just, how do you know who your godly parent even is?”

“They claim you!” Taeyong said matter-a-factly

“That’s not very helpful,” Doyoung pointed out. “The symbol of that god appears over your head. It's hard to miss honestly. When it happens, you’ll know”

Mark nodded. May as well be magical symbols. With all the weird shit he had seen today he was too tired to be surprised. He didn’t think anything could surprise him at this point.  
“Who do you guys think my godly parent is?”

Doyoung tapped his chin and Taeyong squinted at him. They were both silent for a moment before looking at each other and nodding.

“Hephaestus.” 

“Athena.”

Doyoung and Taeyong looked at each other in shock.

“There’s no way he’s an Athena, he doesn't look like one of us at all!”

“Hephaestus? Does he look like he’d go within five feet of a forge?”

They glared at each other for a moment before getting into a very heated argument. Mark just watched them go at it, unsure if he should butt in or let it happen.

“Can you two flirt somewhere else?” Johnny yelled. “Some of us are trying to eat.” Taeyong just stammered in confusion, while Doyoung turned redder than the tomatoes on Taeyong’s cabin. 

“W-We are not fucking flirting! God Johnny, you’re obnoxious!” Doyoung said before hiding his face in his shirt

“Whatever. Just go back to your table and annoy them with your pda.” Johnny made a shooing gesture towards them. The two reluctantly left, all the while insisting that they were not, in fact, flirting. 

“Are they..?” 

“Not officially.” Johnny shrugged. “Everyone knows they’re mad whipped for each other but they’re both too afraid to actually say anything.”

Mark hummed. Made sense, he guessed. They argued like a married couple. 

“It’s gross honestly. Makes me want to puke.” Yuta piped in from the Aries table behind them. Johnny laughed. “You’re telling me. I’m probably on Doyoung’s hit list again.”

“Hit list?” Mark asked, half afraid. Johnny had just mentioned getting possibly murdered like it was nothing.

“Yeah he keeps a list of people who wrong him for when capture the flag rolls around and he can get his revenge.” Johnny replied casually. 

“Capture the flag??” Mark asked suspiciously. If capture the flag just as intense as everything else around here he was not looking forward to it.

“Oh chill. It’s not as scary as you think.” Mark relaxed a little at his words. “If you die they can always bring you back.” 

“WhAt?!” Mark screeched. A couple Hermes kids looked at him weirdly.

“I’m joking! Noone actually dies. We do use real weapons though.” Mark must have made a face because Johnny wrapped an arm around him to comfort. “You won’t have to worry about that tonight. We got a couple days before the next game.” Johnny let him go and picked up their empty plates. “I’m gonna go take care of these. You should get to know the other guys.” 

He left Mark and the other Hermes kids sort of just looking at each other. One of the kids who Mark vaguely remembered to be Hendery tried to say something but Mark couldn’t hear him at all. Actually, he couldn’t see anything either. His vision went white and his whole body went numb. Then, everything went black. Mark blinked several times attempting to get his vision back and when he did he saw all the Hermes kids had retreated away from him, leaving him alone at the table. The Aries kids had backed up too, their mouths were moving but Mark couldn’t hear them at all. All he could hear was a sharp ringing in his ears.

Yuta hesitantly moved towards him.   
“M….. re…. ok?” 

Mark’s hearing was slowly fading back in. His body felt like it was buzzing. Johnny was back too, both platters tucked under his arm. He waved a hand in front of Mark’s eyes, though he seemed more preoccupied with something over his head. Mark grabbed Johnny’s wrist and Johnny ripped his hand away like he had been shocked. He pointed to something just over Mark’s head and he looked up. Over his head was a glowing yellow lightning bolt. So that’s what Doyoung meant by “You’ll know.”


	4. Marble Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ain't no rest for the wicked. Or Mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we on that grind

Mark woke up with a splitting headache. The hard marble floor of the Zeus cabin didn't exactly lend well to restful sleep. And while the worn sleeping bag Johnny had lent him helped, it didn't do much for the chill that seeped up from the stone. So much had happened today and he had been so looking forward to that cozy looking bed Johnny had offered him in the Hermes cabin, before he had gotten claimed in the most dramatic way possible. Apparently when a demigod was claimed, the symbol just appeared and that was that. But Zeus decided to put on a little show and zap him with lightning too. For pazazz, Mark assumed. Another rumble of thunder echoed through the building and Mark rolled over. He made eye contact with the massive statue in the center of the room. 

“Shut up!”

Another roll of thunder, even louder than the one before. None of the other cabins had had a statue of their patron god, and Mark could see why. A ten foot tall man staring at you sleep wasn’t exactly a comfort. Mark rolled back over and curled into a little ball. While this was quite possibly one of the worst accommodations of his life, exhaustion still took over and he slowly faded back into sleep.

The next morning hit Mark like a freight train. His back and neck where screaming at him and a huge burst of thunder had startled him out of sleep. He sat up to hear a horn blowing in the distance. He vaguely remembered Johnny telling him that the breakfast horn sounded at 9. He slowly got out of his sleeping bag and winced at the pain in his neck. He felt like his whole body weighed a thousand pounds and didn’t feel any more rested then he had before. He heard a knock on the door. The place had no furniture so every sound was amplified times a thousand. He made his way over to the door and opened it to see Johnny standing outside.

“Damn. You look like shit.” Mark glared at him. “C’mon lightning boy lets get something to eat.” Mark sighed and exited the ‘cabin’. He pushed the heavy brass door closed with his back. 

“That was probably the worst sleep of my life.” Mark admitted, attempting to crack his neck and failing. 

“Doesn’t seem comfy. It’s always thundering in that place anyway. What’s it like on the inside?”

Mark groaned. “No beds. No furniture. And a 10 foot tall statue watching me at all times. Just lovely.” 

“Ooooh that’s why you needed that sleeping bag.” As they reached the Hermes table, all of the kids quickly scooted away and looked around each other then back at Johnny. Johnny sighed loudly and guided Mark away from the table.  
“Buncha pansies. Afraid of you just because you’re the son of the big guy upstairs.”

“Afraid?” Mark supposed it made sense. His dad was Zeus himself and not to mention he was struck by lightning not even five feet away from them. 

“Yeah just ignore them. Most campers’ll be a little wary of you now but it shouldn’t be a big deal. Hey Taeyong!” He waved over a sleepy looking Taeyong who had previously been laying on a table by himself. “Can you keep Mark company? I’m not really supposed to table hop.” Taeyong nodded, rubbing one eye with his fist. He patted a seat next to him and Mark sat down.

“Thanks for not uhh.. being afraid of me or whatever.” 

“S’Nothing.” Taeyong mumbled. “You seem like a good kid.” He wasn’t really all there. Mark assumed Taeyong wasn’t really a morning person. He yawned and picked up his glass.

“Iced Coffee.” Several ice cubes materialized in the glass before it filled up with coffee. Taeyong took a long sip. Mark picked up his own glass.

“So are there any other Demeter kids?”

“No.” Taeyong pouted. “Gets kinda lonely so I table hop and hang out with Doie or the others.” 

“Who are the others?” Mark asked, curiously. He realized that because he had no cabin mates he really had no friends except for, hopefully, Taeyong, Doyoung, Johnny, and maybe Jaemin. 

“I’ll introduce you. They’ll like you.” Taeyong said, grabbing his plate. Mark filled his with an array of breakfast foods and grabbed a big fluffy waffle for the fire. He announced Zeus’s name before tossing the waffle in. He hoped Zeus was a waffle guy. They sat back down at the Demeter table and made light small talk. Taeyong explained some of the daily routine in the camp and how Mark would be given a weapon of his own amongst other things. Mark wasn’t certain how he felt about a weapon, he had never even shot a gun before although he had a feeling that they stuck to more… classic weapons here. 

“Alrighty.” Taeyong stretched his arms up after they finished eating. “Let's introduce you to the boys.”

He lead Mark around to different tables, first to Doyoung’s just to stop by. Then they swung around to the Apollo table where Taeyong introduced him to two campers, one with a shock of bright red hair and a gentle smile named Taeil, and another who had silvery hair who he had met earlier named Haechan. He was no longer covered in golden glitter but for some reason he still seemed to shimmer a little. 

“Taeil is the temporary leader of the Apollo cabin, and Haechan is our golden boy. Literally. He glows.”

Haechan beamed. “Yep!” He was in fact, literally beaming as his skin became too bright to even look at.

“Ok stop it, stop it-” Taeyong covered his eyes until Haechan turned back to normal. “Yeah he can do that. Walking flashlight.”

The next table they visited was the Aphrodite table, every kid here was absolutely stunning. While every demigod seemed to be attractive, Mark assumed it had something to do with being related to a literal god, the Aphrodite kids were something else. Jaemin saw them approach and gave Mark that same beautiful smile that made his stomach hurt.

“Well if it isn't Mark!” Jaemin nudged a boy sitting next to him who turned to look at Mark. Taeyong immediately put his hands over Mark’s eyes. 

“Ten don’t.”

“Awwww, Tyong I wasn’t gonna do anything!” This voice, who Mark assumed was Ten, sounded insulted. Taeyong took his hands off Mark’s eyes but still glared at Ten suspiciously. A different kid at the table popped up. 

“Hi! You must be the new kid! I’m Lucas!” 

“I would die for you.” The words just tumbled out of Mark’s mouth and he stepped back in confusion. 

“Goddamn Lucas you need to get a handle on that Charmspeak.”

Lucas sheepishly put a hand on the back of his neck. “Sorry…” He looked a like a kicked puppy and Mark found himself feeling bad for him

“It’s fine-” Mark wasn’t even sure what it was that Lucas had done to him and yet he still felt the need to reassure him.

“Anyway!” Taeyong turned Marks attention to an orange haired boy sitting next to Ten. “This is Jungwoo.” Jungwoo waved shyly and Mark felt his heart swell. Jungwoo was adorable, something about him just made Mark want to protect him. “Don’t let him fool you, he’s just as crafty as all the other Aphrodite kids.” He didn’t quite believe Taeyong on that, he felt certain Jungwoo was an angel

Moving on, Taeyong took him back to the Hermes table and sitting where Mark had sat last night was another kid he had never met. He turned as they approached and smiled, waving to Taeyong. 

“So this is the new kid?” He asked. His voice was deep and pleasant. He had dark brown hair and dimples that popped out when he smiled. 

“Yeah. Gave us the fright of our life last night.” Johnny piped in. “This is Jaehyun. Jaehyun this is Mark.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Jaehyun stood up and gave him a firm handshake. Mark was certain he would not remember all of these names. 

“Nice to meet you too. Are you a Hermes kid?” Mark hadn’t seen him last night.

“Nah. Son of Nike. I’m like you and Taeyong, I don’t have any siblings.” 

Mark nodded. At least he wasn’t the only one here by himself. Although he wished his cabin was cozy like the others so he could enjoy having a room all to himself.

The clopping of horse hooves echoed across the pavillion and Chiron came to a stop beside them. 

“Mark? May we talk for a moment?” He made it sound like a question but Mark knew better then to say no. He nodded and followed Chiron away from the mess hall.

“We haven’t had a son of Zeus here in a very long time.” Chiron said, his arms crossed behind his back. “This could be a very good thing, or a very bad thing. It’s a wonder you survived long enough to get here.”

Mark furrowed his brow. “Really?” He supposed he had had a couple of near death experiences, almost drowned multiple times and ect. Water didn’t exactly like him. 

“Monsters are drawn to demigods, and target more powerful demigods with a vengeance.” Chiron stopped in front of the forge. “And for that, you’ll need a powerful weapon. I’m afraid the ceilings are too low for me to come inside with you, but one of the Hephaestus campers should be inside. Just tell him who you are and that I sent you.”

Mark nodded and stepped inside. The forge was hot, and the walls were lined with different weapons. A blonde kid was hammering away at a piece of red hot metal at the anvil.

“HELLO?” Mark tried to yell over the hammering to no avail. The guy didn’t hear him at all so Mark stepped a little closer and waved his hand. The guy at the anvil turned and practically jumped out of his skin, dropping the hot metal on the floor. Mark backed up and the guy reached down and, with a pair of tongs, tossed the metal back into the fire. He pulled out a pair of pink earplugs Mark hadn’t noticed he was wearing.

“Yo. You scared the shit out of me.” The guy put down the tongs and brushed some soot off himself “What brings you here?”

“I’m Mark. The uh, new kid. Chiron said to tell you he sent me.”

“Oh! Welcome!” The guy pulled off his glove and reached out a hand to shake his, but realized his hands were covered in soot and thought better of it. “I’m Jeno. If Chiron sent you here, that means you’re in need of a weapon!” Jeno looked excited. “We’ve got the wall of finished work over there, just pick whatever calls to you!” He crossed his arms “Every item is either made here or discovered on quests and each one has a magical feature.” Mark looked around at the massive wall of weaponry. Each looked deadly, each in their own ways and he was a little afraid to touch any of them. But up near the top corner, he spotted a glittering gold bow. He walked closer. The bow had intricate designs carved in it and was all sharp, jagged lines. Beside it was a single bronze arrow. 

“Ohhh that’s a tricky one.” Jeno walked up beside him. “One of our old cabin leaders made that. It was her pride and joy. Noone’s been able to use the thing though.” 

“Why not?” Mark watched Jeno grab a step ladder from the side of the room and unfold it so he could get up to the bow.

“Well I think it has a mind of its own, it zaps anyone who tries to use it.” Jeno pulled his gloves back on and gingerly lifted the bow off the wall and set it down on a table nearby. 

“God- uh Gods know I've been zapped enough.” Mark watched Jeno place the arrow beside the bow. “Should I like… touch it?”

“You’ll have to if you want to use it.” Jeno pointed out. Mark moved closed to it and cautiously reached out one finger and gently brushed it across the cool metal. Nothing happened so Mark wrapped his fingers around it. The bow was heavier then he would have thought, though it made sense as it seemed to be made of solid gold. 

Jeno whistled softly. “Looks like it’s found its user. Thank gods, I’ve gotten real tired of it shocking the shit out of me.” He turned and got back to his work. “Oh, one more thing. Toss it.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

Mark looked at him and back at the bow reluctantly. He swung it up, and back down, testing the weight. It was heavy but he figured he could catch it ok. He heaved it up and tossed it not too far in the air. The bow hovered for a moment, and then condensed itself down into a small golden bracelet, falling back into Mark’s palm harmlessly. 

“Portability is important for the modern demigod.” Jeno called from his work station. “Now go to the training area and test her out.” 

When he left the forge, Chiron was no longer there. He decided that if Chiron needed him, he would know where to find him so he made his way over to the training grounds. He played with the simple gold bracelet. He had seen so many strange magical things over the course of two days that this felt almost normal to him. As he approached the grounds he saw Taeil and Haechan from earlier, each toting their own, less fancy, bows.

“Hey!” Haechan noticed him first and waved him over. “If it isn’t lightning boy. What brings you over here? Did you get your own weapon?”

Mark nodded and both boys perked up. 

“Well? Lets see it!” Haechan bounced up and down in excitement.

Mark pulled the bracelet off and realized he had no idea how to get it back into bow form. He decided to try tossing it in the air, but he didn't quite expect it to work and when the bow came back down he almost dropped it, the weight catching him by surprise. 

“Graceful.” Haechan commented. Taeil lightly smacked his shoulder

“Be nice. Anyway, Mark, do you know how to use a bow?”

Mark stiffened. He had absolutely no idea how to use a bow. Taeil seemed to notice his distress.

“Hey it’ll be ok. You’ve got the best teachers right here, and demigods pick up weapons pretty easily. You may not be shooting like an Apollo kid, but we’ll make it work, alright?” 

For the next couple of hours Mark was put though bow boot camp, Taeil and Haechan taught him everything he needed to know about how the bow worked, proper form, and how to care for it. They had a fun dynamic between them, Taeil being a patient calm teacher, and Haechan also helping while cracking jokes to make Mark feel comfortable. He appreciated their company and while he still wasn’t a hundred percent on his form, he felt better about handling his new weapon. 

Over the next couple of weeks, Mark went through extensive training. He fell into a comfortable rhythm at Camp Half Blood, wake up, stretch to alleviate his horrendous back pain, eat breakfast, train, eat dinner, and crawl into his sleeping bag for another fitful night. Everything had happened so fast but Johnny, Taeyong and their friends really made him feel at home. And while he was happy with life at camp, he still felt restless. Anytime he asked Chiron about when he would be allowed to leave, he expertly dodged the question, always saying it wasn’t safe yet. Mark wondered what was out there that made it so unsafe for him to leave. Was it more minotaurs running around? Surely if a group of them went though, it would be fine. Right? He had noticed Johnny and the other cabin leaders would disappear into the Big House for hours at a time, always coming out more distressed than before. Whenever he would ask about it though, Johnny just put on a big smile and told him not to worry about it.

Things kept repeating until, before their next meeting, Johnny asked Mark to accompany him.


	5. We've off to see the Wizard!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did he know what nickelodeon slime even tasted like?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're almost into the fun part ladies and gents and homies of all sorts

“Have you met our Oracle yet?”

“Your what?” Mark asked, he had heard of the oracle before in a history class he mostly slept through. All he could remember is that the oracle gave prophecies and in greek mythology prophecies were never good.

“Not what. Who.” Johnny pointed towards a boy sitting on the deck.

He sat with his legs crossed, lounging on a large wooden rocking chair. He had slightly curly black hair and one of his ears was a little bit pointed. 

“This is Winwin. He’s our Oracle.” Johnny plopped down into a chair beside him. “Sometimes he gives prophecies.”

Winwin and Mark stared at each other, neither saying anything for a while.

“Do I have something on my face?” Winwin asked finally.

“Uh. No.” Mark replied. He took the other seat beside Winwin. “I just uh.. Didn't expect the oracle to be a regular guy.”

Winwin raised an eyebrow. “What did you expect? A corpse in the attic that spews green smoke or something?”

“Well no but..” 

Chiron interrupted their conversation, opening the door and ushering all three boys inside. This was the first time Mark had ever seen the inside of The Big House. It had peeling floral wallpaper and a big overstuffed couch. In the center of the room was a large pool table and around it stood the other camp counselors and a man Mark had never seen before. Of the counselors, he only knew Johnny and Taeil, and both were temporary stand ins. Johnny had previously mentioned that the originals being out on a quest or something, and that he and Taeil had volunteered to take their place. The rest of the counselors eyed him silently. 

“I guess ya’ll haven't really met.” Johnny went to stand by the table as well and Mark followed him. Winwin went off to the side and made himself comfortable on the couch. “Mark, this is Jooheon, leader of the Aries cabin.” Jooheon had pitch black hair and a generally menacing vibe, but then he smiled and his dimples came out, basically killing any intimidation factor. “Yo.”

“Hyungwon, leader of the Aphrodite cabin.” Johnny pointed to the guy standing next to Jooheon. He was really tall, not too far off from Johnny’s height. And, he looked like he had stepped right off a runway. He had the sort of vibe of a very expensive cat.

“Namjoon, leader of the Athena cabin.” He gestured to the next guy, who had a similar vibe to Jooheon. Just a little bit intimidating.

“You already know Taeil… Ah! Shownu, leader of the Hephaestus cabin.” Shownu nodded at him. He was very muscular, though he was a son of Hephaestus and Jeno hadn’t been much to spit at either.

“Aaaand, Kun.” Johnny pointed to the final guy and Mark felt his stomach flip. Not in the same sickeningly sweet way that the Aphrodite kids made him sick. More in a fearing for his life sort of sick. “Son of Hades. I know he seems scary but really he’s a sweetheart.” 

Kun leaned back from the table. “Sorry about the weird vibes, it's a side effect of being related to the god of the underworld.” Mark simply nodded. He still felt a little off put by Kun, but the guy himself seemed alright.

“Well. Now that everyone’s had their little introduction, let's get to the important part. Mark, please take a seat beside Winwin.” Chiron gestured to the boy on the couch and Mark looked over to see Winwin patting the spot next to him.

“Can I ask what this is all about?” Mark asked as he sat beside him, nervously setting his hands in his lap.

“Well, it depends on what’s about to happen.” Chiron answered, crossing his arms behind his back. “If nothing then you leave and that's that.”

Mark gave him a weird look but came to terms with the idea that it would be just another day of not having anything explained. He turned to Winwin. “What now?” 

Winwin held out his hands, palms up and Marks set his on top gently. Winwin closed his eyes and for a while said nothing, just furrowing his brow occasionally. After about five minutes, he opened his eyes and turned to Chiron.

“I’m not getting any-” His words were cut off with a bright flash of green light that shot out his eyes and mouth. Acidic green smoke rolled over his tounge, past his lips, and all over Mark’s legs as Winwin turned his head to face him. His hands were now being gripping Mark’s so hard that his fingers felt numb and Mark was fearing for his life for the third time that day. 

“I-Is this normal??” All Mark got in response was a “Shhh” from everyone at the table

Finally, a hoarse gravelly voice left Winwin’s body. It sounded nothing like the boy, instead it felt like he had been possessed by a 90 year old evil grandmother. His eyes were still open wide and glowing bright neon green.

“Nine must go to lands unknown  
The queen's best lily blooms  
Her garden dark in nights unending  
Lightning led but magic sending  
Children trapped in midnight tombs  
Bloodties ripped must be re-sewn”

Immediately after he finished, the green light left his eyes and he slumped onto Mark’s chest. The room went silent, everyone watching them like Winwin was going to pop back up for a sequel.

“Well then.” The stranger who had never said anything since Mark walked in finally spoke up. “That sounds like a prophecy to me.” The spell was broken and the whole room started talking at once.  
Chiron tapped his hoof against the wooden floor loud enough for everyone to fall silent. 

“Taemin is right. That’s a prophecy.”

Kun piped up from the back. “Ok but that gave us barely any answers and even more questions.”

“Isn’t every prophecy like that anyway?” Namjoon pointed out. 

“It’s only a starting point. A guide to the quest.” Chiron started to pace around. “For now, we need to focus on pulling a party together.”

“Well lightning can only mean one thing.” Johnny said, looking over at Mark.

“And nine is a whole lot of people for a quest.” Taeil propped his elbow on the table and placed his chin in his hand. “How do we decide who goes?”

“It gave no specifics on who should go. So we could leave it up to Mark.” It was the first time Mark had actually heard Hyungwon speak.

Mark was feeling very left out of this conversation. “I still have no clue what's going on here!” He crossed his arms. “Seriously, is anyone going to fill me in?”

Johnny looked at Chiron who just nodded slightly.  
“Alright. Here’s what's up. Demigods go out on quests, right? The oracle gives a prophecy and the demigod goes out and does it. Except recently, no one who’s been out questing has come back. Actually no one who’s been out at all has come back. It’s not the usual sort of leave and never come back, they aren’t dead as far as we can tell. No bodies have been found and no witnesses either. It’s like they’re just plucked out of existence. And, other demigods not associated with camp have been disappearing too.”

“All my bandmates are MIA.” Taemin mentioned. “That’s why I came here. All the adult demigods are going missing too.” 

Johnny nodded. “That’s why we couldn’t let you leave camp. You’re actually the first new demigod to show up in months.”

“Oh…” Mark rubbed his arms. “So… What do we do now?”

“Great question.” Chiron stopped his pacing. “Now you decide who you’ll bring on your quest.”

Johnny stepped up. “I’ll go.” 

Chiron made a face. “We can’t afford to lose another counselor.” 

“Hendery can hold things down just fine without me.” Johnny insisted. “Mark should go with people he knows.”

“What about me?” Jooheon leaned against the pool table. “I’ve been on a quest before.”

“You’re one of our strongest. We need you here.” Chiron said, looking increasingly more stressed.

“You have to let go of some of them Chiron.” Taemin placed a hand on his arm. “Someone has to go fix this.” Chiron nodded, slow and solemn. 

“Mark. We’ll give you two days to decide who you want to bring.” He opened the door and ducked past the doorframe. “Best of luck.” He trotted off down the hill.

“I hate prophecies.” Winwin announced. “Makes my mouth taste like nickelodeon slime.” He stood up and left the room as well to sit on a rocking chair outside, leaving Mark alone on the couch. He looked around at the others, each wearing the same concerned expression. Johnny bit his lip on thought.

“Alright. Mark you should go get ready for dinner. We can deal with this tomorrow.”

Mark nodded. No point in dwelling on it today. They left the Big House and made their way down the hill to the cabins.

“You are going to pick me right?” Johnny asked. “I know I shouldn’t pressure you but, if I didn’t go I think I’d lose my mind worrying. Plus I haven’t gotten to leave here in ages.” 

Mark hummed. “Yeah. I definitely plan on bringing you, the rest of the gang too. I think we just perfectly fit the nine people thing, but Jaemin will beat my ass for not bringing him.” 

“He’ll live.” 

\----------------------------------

After two days had passed, Mark and the group he had chosen were called up to The Big House. They were all excited yet nervous, most of them had never actually been on a quest before. Mark took a mental roll call.

Johnny… lounging on the couch.  
Jaehyun… lounging on the couch with Johnny.  
Yuta… leaning against the wall looking edgier then he had any right to be.  
Haechan… trying, and failing, to move Johnny’s legs off the couch so he could sit.  
Taeil… checking their gear.  
Jungwoo… being cute.  
Doyoung… arguing that taking Taeyong’s favorite succulents was a terrible idea and would only slow them down.  
Taeyong… arguing that bringing the plants was extremely necessary and could not be left behind. They’ll be lonely! 

Mark nodded. That’s everyone. He was starting to wonder if maybe he had picked a group that was just a little too dysfunctional. Chiron clapped lightly to draw their attention.

“Alright then. We’ve decided where your first stop will be. Not too far from here, there is a small tarot shop. Inside is one of the few demigods still keeping contact with us. Just tell him I sent you and he’ll help guide you. Oh, and one last thing.” He pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket. “I wrote your prophecy down. So you won’t forget.” Mark sighed in relief. He had already forgotten the exact wording. He took the slip of paper from Chiron’s hand and shoved it in his pocket.

“So.. Are we ready to go?” Mark turned to the other campers. Everyone agreed enthusiastically except for Taeyong who set a small succulent down on the pool table. Chiron placed a hand on his shoulder gently. “I’ll take very good care of them for you.” Taeyong nodded reluctantly and with that they all left The Big House. 

Down near the edge of camp, was a small light blue van. Standing beside it were two people, Argus the hundred eyed camp security guard who would be driving them to the tarot shop, and one of the counselors Mark had met yesterday. Jooheon. While Mark helped Taeil load their backpacks into the trunk he listened in, how could he not, on Johnny and Jooheon’s conversation.

“You guys’ll be talking with him, right?”

“Yeah we’ll be stopping by for a reading. Hopefully he can decipher that thing better than us.”

“Does he know about them?”

“Dunno. I don’t think he does. Chiron says they’ve been in contact but to him contact is a letter saying ‘Hey! I’m not dead!’”

“Are you gonna tell him?”

“Fuck man… I really don’t want to be the one to do it.”

“Someone’s got to.”

Both of them paused for a moment.

“I’ll try to tell him. If I get the chance.”

“You really should. And.. give him a hug for me, ok? Oh and here.”

Guessing by the crumpling noise that came next, Jooheon handed Johnny something.

“It’s their favorite.”

Taeil slammed the trunk closed, scaring the shit out of Mark.

“Y’know it's rude to listen in on other people’s conversations.” He pointed out, amused when Mark practically jumped out of his skin.

“Shhh, I know, I just uh. Got curious.” Taeil rolled his eyes and by the time Mark turned back around, Jooheon was leaving and Johnny was climbing into the front of the van.

“Hey! I called shotgun!” Haechan called from the grass where he had been sitting while waiting on the van to be ready.

“Shotgun, shmotgun.” Johnny said smugly. “You shoulda moved faster.” He closed the door, ending that argument. Eventually everyone piled into the van and they set off. 

It finally really hit Mark that this would be his first time outside camp in about a month. He wondered if the outside world was looking for him. His aunt and uncle, who had cared for him after his mom’s passing, and really just treated him like a burden anyway so he wouldn’t really be surprised if they didn’t care. His classmates generally considered him that weird kid in the back who squirmed a lot and flunked all the tests. He could imagine the half assed search party that would be pulled together just to decide he got eaten by a bear or something so they could all go home. 

He also thought about the tarot shop they’d be visiting. He never really connected tarot with greek mythos, but he also never really researched either. Jooheon and Johnny both seemed to know the owner. He wondered what sort of person he would be, a creepy mystical old man? He imagined his grampa hunched over a crystal ball. He snickered at the thought, causing Yuta to look over at him. 

“Your laugh is cute.”

“Hwha-” Mark made a strange choked noise. To say Yuta caught him by a surprise was an understatement.

“He just does that sometimes.” Doyoung stated from beside Mark. “He’s very blunt.”

Taeyong nodded. “Very.”

Yuta shrugged. “I’m just stating facts. Like Doyoung,” He turned around to him. “You talk too much.” Doyoung made a horrified gasp and Taeyong broke out laughing. Somehow, the three managed to bicker the whole hour and a half long trip.


	6. Novelty Candle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even witches shop spirit halloween sometimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok the tarot stuff i mostly looked it up online but i really dont know everything about readings but i did my best!

It was late in the afternoon when they finally arrived at the shop. It was tucked away in a small town near the edge of New York, so well tucked away that when Mark arrived he had no idea where it could be. As they all climbed out of the van and pulled their backpacks out of the trunk, Argus pointed to an alley Mark hadn’t noticed before.

“Over there?” Argus nodded. He did something with his hands that Mark assumed was sign language. He had took a class on it in school but failed spectacularly.

“He’s saying the door is purple.” Jaehyun said helpfully, handing Mark his backpack. “And that he wishes us luck.”

“Thank Argus.” He smiled at the guard who winked at him with approximately half of his eyes. Soon, he was driving away leaving the group on their own.

“This is really happening, we’re finally going on a quest!” Haechan announced. Everyone cheered, waving their bags around in the air. Their energy was infectious and accompanied them down the alley all the way until they reached the old door at the very end. It was covered in a layer of chipping purple paint and had a big gold lion’s head knocker in the center. On either side of the door where two, massive dog statues. Doberman pinschers, bigger than any dog he had ever seen before. Both were sitting at attention, exact mirrors of each other with their ears pointed straight up. It wasn’t until the dogs stood that Mark realized they were not statues at all, but real living dogs. They watched the campers silently, menacingly. Their coats were so dark that they seemed to consume any light around them like a black hole.

“... Nose goes.” Johnny whispered. 

Mark looked around to see everyone with a finger on their nose. “Fuck.”

He slowly tip-toed towards the worn door between the dogs, both keeping a close eye on him. Soon, he had reached the steps and neither dog had moved an inch. Mark nervously fiddled with the gold band around his wrist as he placed one foot on the step. Nothing. He took another step. The dog on the right shook its head and Mark nearly bolted. After a minute of silence, he cleared the rest of the steps, knocked as quickly as he could on the old oak door and ran like hell itself was on his heels. 

The door opened with a soft jingle. In the doorway was a guy not much older then Mark, he looked like he had just woken up.

“We’re closed on Saturdays dude.” The guy gave them an annoyed glare. 

Mark coughed softly. “Um we uh..” He stuttered. “Chiron sent us.” 

“Oh.” The shop owner raised his eyebrows and took a closer look at the campers. “Of course, of course.” He nodded sleepily. “Come inside.” He waved to them casually like the two scariest dogs on earth weren't next to him. He noticed none of them moving. He followed their stare to the canines. “They don’t bite.” He whistled and both dogs immediately got up and came inside

Mark followed them, the rest of the group on his heels. The inside of the tarot shop was small but cozy. Floor to ceiling shelves lined the walls, all full of different items. Everything from crystals to candles, tarot cards and guides to using them, and even in a small locked box by the cash register, a ouija board. The whole shop smelled like sage and lavender and was lit by fairy lights strung from from one side of the room to the other. 

“My name’s Changkyun by the way. Son of Hecate, goddess of magic.” He had made himself comfortable sitting on the counter. “This is Yoshi.” He pointed to the dog with the red collar. “And Gucci.” He pointed to the dog with the blue collar. 

“Oh! That reminds me.” Johnny started rifling through his pockets until he pulled out a small plastic bag. Immediately both dog’s demeanor changed, crowding around Johnny and hopping up to try and rip the little bag out of his hand in excitement. “Ok ok ok! Settle down!” He opened the bag and inside were two dog treats. Both pups nearly bowled him over in excitement and Mark was certain that if it was him they would have completely knocked him over.

“Ok, sit!” Johnny commanded and immediately both dogs sat, their tails still wagging frantically. “Good boys!” He gave each dog a treat and a pat on the head. 

“Those are those bacon treats Jooheon always brings right? How is that clown? He never drops by anymore.” Changkyun asked from the counter. He had plugged his phone into a speaker and soft rnb music started playing throughout the store. 

“He’s good!” Johnny stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. “He told me to tell you hi as we left actually. He really wanted to come see you in person but no one can leave camp right now.”

Changkyun tilted his head. “Why not?” 

“Actually. That’s why we’re here.” Johnny moved to lean on the counter. “Can we talk in private?”

“Uh yeah, yeah. C’mon, we’ll talk in the back.”

They both disappeared into a back room, leaving Mark and the rest in the shop.

“Huh. He’s really taking charge.” Yuta said from beside Mark, scaring the crap out of him. Apparently he could move silently, because Mark was certain he had not been there before.

“For real.” Taeil said from the shelves. He was currently inspecting a candle. “Woah. It smells like bacon.”

“No way-” Haechan immediately ran over to check. He took a massive sniff of the candle. “Oh my gods it does!” 

“Who needs a bacon candle?” Doyoung looked up from the book he was inspecting.

“Me. How much does it cost?” Jungwoo swiped the candle out of Haechan’s hands and flipped it upside down to check the label. “Whaaaa? $30?? What is this Yankee Candle?” He complained, setting the candle back on the shelf.

“We can’t bring a candle on a quest with us Jungwoo.” Doyoung set down ‘An Idiot’s Guide to the Future’. “What would we do with it anyway?”

“Distract monsters?” He kept eyeing the candle despite the steep price.

“We have Haechan for that- Taeyong what are you doing?” Doyoung asked, exasperated.

“Look at this poor Ficus Lyrata!” Taeyong exclaimed from the floor. He was currently coddling a rather wilted looking houseplant, his legs wrapped around the pot. “You poor baby,” He cooed at it. “Who would ever put you in a low light spot like this?!” He pet its leaves and Yoshi and Gucci watched jealousy.

“Ficus wha-?” Jaehyun squatted next to him. Taeyong started excitedly explaining the details of the plant to him, and Jaehyun’s eyes glazed over a little. Mark could tell he was not paying attention at all.

“Poor sap. He’ll be there all day.” Yuta shook his head. “Once you get Taeyong started about plants he’ll never stop.” He moved over to the locked box by the counter. “Why does he even have one of these?” He asked, gesturing to the ouija board. “Everyone knows they’re bullshit.”

“Usually.” Changkyun exited the back room and Johnny came out with him. “Depends on where you get them.” He moved over to Mark. “You still got that prophecy with you?” Mark nodded. “Alright. C’mon.” He walked away, not even checking to see if Mark was following.

The inside of the backroom was very dark. It was only lit by a couple candles resting on a circular table in the center of the room. The floor was covered in plush carpet and Mark felt his shoes sink into it. Changkyun sat down on one side of the table and pulled out a deck of cards from gods know where. “Give me a second to shuffle these.” 

Mark took the moment to explore the room a little more. On the table was a small skull. He picked it up and on the bottom was a half scratched off Spirit Halloween sticker.

“Don’t touch anything!” Changkyun smacked Mark’s hand lightly and he put down the skull. Looked like only some of the items here were actually magical. “Geez. After I took out my nice cards for you and everything.”

“The nice cards? What’s the difference?” Mark wondered if they had real magic in them, the others just fakes for normal customers.

“They’re holo.” He held one card between two fingers and moved it back and forth in the light. “Rainbows.”

Mark had to admit, they were nice.

Eventually Changkyun finished shuffling the cards and set them to the side. “Sit.” 

Mark obeyed quickly. “Oh uh, here.” He fished the small slip of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Changkyun. He unfolded it and read it over. “Hm.” He set the paper down and rested his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers together. “You’ve got quite a journey ahead of you.” He was staring dead into Mark’s eyes, making him just a little bit uncomfortable. “Do you think you’re ready?” 

“No.” Mark answered honestly. He didn’t know what this had to do with understanding his prophecy but Changkyun didn’t really seem like someone to question.

He nodded and picked his cards up and shuffled them one more time. “Let’s break down this thing. It’s never a good thing when prophecies mention ‘the queen’. That’s probably Hera.” He laid the deck down and swiped his hand across the table, spreading the cards in an arc. “Choose three” 

Mark carefully picked three cards and Changkyun pushed them out of the lineup with one black polished finger. “As far as a lily goes, that could be anything. We’re giving you a past present future reading by the way.” He collected the rest of the cards and set them aside, leaving the three cards left sitting in a line. He motioned to them and Mark flipped over the first one.

It had a large wheel on it, covered in symbols Mark didn’t understand and surrounded by different creatures including a lion, a snake, a cow with wings and even a small sphinx perched on top. “Wheel of fortune. A lot of stuff has happened in your past to make you who you are now. Challenges that you overcame to get here.” Mark nodded. He assumed escaping a minotaur was a challenge he overcame. “That first line explains why theres so damn many of you on this quest. Nine.” Changkyun whistled softly. “That’ll be hard to manage. And lands unknown? That could be a couple different places. There are certain spots in this world the gods can’t see or go. Flip the next card.”

Mark was curious about what he meant by places even the gods couldn’t reach but he flipped the card anyway.

On it was a crowned person seated on a throne. They held a huge sword in one hand, and a scale in the other. “Justice. The lightning is you by the way. Seems like Johnny’s trying to lead the quest but that's your job. You may have to put him in his place on that, he may be older but this is your prophecy.” Mark grimaced. Just thinking of ‘Putting Johnny in his place’ felt impossible.

“What’s Justice mean?” 

“You have some hard decisions to make. You don’t have to make them alone, your friends are here for you and you can always ask them for advice. What you choose will follow you forever.” He leaned in. “But between you and me, don’t trust anyone completely. Ever.”

“Ah.” Mark swallowed thickly. Changkyun had told him such conflicting things that he had no idea how to process it. He flipped the last card, his stomach feeling full of something more like maggots than butterflies.

This card had a single cloaked figure on it holding a large silvery staff. “The Hermit. Separation ahead.” Changkyun said simply. “Not necessarily a bad thing, but not a good thing either. Just be ready to let go.” He sighed. “Children in tombs and bloodties huh. This could be some sort of feud between gods that’s affecting us demigods. They always bring us into their shit.” He made a face. 

“What about the tombs part?” Mark asked. “If they’re trapped does that mean they aren’t actually dead? Or can be released from death?”

Changkyun thought for a moment. “It could be either. But I doubt you’re going to the underworld. That’s not exactly a land unknown.” He collected the three cards and shuffled them back into his deck. “Don’t tell the others about the deets on your reading.” He stood and Mark copied him.

“Why?” He really wanted to talk it over with the others, maybe they’d have some input. 

“Just trust me on that. You can tell them about my take on the prophecy but the tarot stuff stays between us.” He opened the door and ushered Mark out into the store proper. Taeyong was still on the floor, wrapped around the same plant and rattling off facts to a thoroughly zoned out Jaehyun. Yuta and Jungwoo were arguing with Doyoung on the necessity of a bacon scented candle, and Haechan and Taeil were busy playing with Yoshi and Gucci. 

“You really got your hands full with these guys.” Changkyun said, almost pitying him. Mark let out a long sigh. “Yep.” He then realized Johnny was nowhere to be found. He peeked outside to find him sitting on the steps by himself.

“Hey.” 

Johnny looked up at him. “Hey.”

Mark closed the door behind him and sat beside Johnny. “Did you tell him?”

“Hmm?”

“Whatever Jooheon wanted you to tell him.”

“Ah. You heard that?” Johnny looked away from him. “No. I didn’t.”

“What was it?” Mark knew he was prying too much but the curiosity was really getting the better of him. 

Johnny sighed softly. “Him and Jooheon went on a quest with some other campers a long time ago. They all became really close with each other, like a family. A couple of his old questmates have gone missing with the rest. Kihyun and Wonho. I didn’t have the heart to tell him they could be dead. Jooheon and Hyungwon have already been so stressed about it, I don’t want to put Kyun through that.” Mark sat in silence for a second.

“I see. It would be better to just tell him though, I think he’d rather know.” 

Johnny just nodded. He opened his mouth to say something but Haechan swung the door open violently, smacking Mark on the back.

“We’re doing a vote on the bacon candle! Get in here and for fucks sake vote bacon!” He disappeared from the doorway leaving Mark rubbing his back.

“I think he actually like, fixed my back problems from sleeping on the cabin floor.” 

Johnny laughed and helped Mark up. “Let’s hope so.” They both went back into the chaotic mess. Jungwoo was trying his best to haggle down the price of the candle, batting his eyelashes and making a very very convincing puppy dog face. However, Changkyun was having none of it.

“Those candles are expensive because I make them myself. I have a profit to make. Also the eyes won't work smartass, I own two actual dogs.” Jungwoo pouted and Mark felt his heart break a little. He didn’t know how Changkyun resisted it. 

In the end they bought the stupid candle, much to Doyoung’s annoyance. Mark was pretty sure Yuta and Johnny only voted pro candle just to annoy him and Mark only voted in favor because Jungwoo’s puppy eyes were a powerful force. 

“You guys can spend the night here, it’s too dangerous to travel now.” He opened another side door to reveal a set of stairs. “Up here is my flat. I don’t have a guest bed but I got a pull out couch and maybe an air mattress somewhere. Y'all can pile onto those.”

And pile they did, after having to order six pizzas just to feed them all, Jungwoo could take down a whole pizza by himself and Haechan refused to be one upped. Mark finally got to sleep on a decent bed and while it wasn’t perfect anything was better then the cold marble floor back at camp.


	7. Southbound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mark has his last good meal for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a lil short but the next one should be nice and long

Mark slowly woke to the soft padding of footsteps and quiet creaks of wooden floorboards. He sleepily opened one eye and turned his head in hopes of seeing who it was. He could only barely see over the arm of the couch but he saw a puff of white hair and knew who it was immediately.

“... Yuta…?” He whispered softly. Yuta paused and turned to face him. He put a single finger to his lips and quietly walked to him, leaning over the couch so his face hovered in front of Mark’s.

“Why are you up?” He whispered back. “You should sleep, we gotta get up early tomorrow.” 

“Same goes for you.” Mark murmured. He started trying to get up but Haechan was splayed out on top of him. Yuta assisted by wrapping his hands around Haechan’s chest and lifting him up so Mark could wiggle out of his grip.

“Won’t he wake up?” Mark asked, pulling his feet away and finally freeing himself.

“Nah. Sleeps like a rock.” Haechan was already trying to latch himself onto Yuta like a weird little koala, but he managed to escape just in time. “C’mon.” He lead Mark over to a nearby window, unlatching and opening it. He climbed up onto the windowsill, reached up to grab something, and pulled himself up out of sight. Mark looked out the window to see Yuta peering down athim from the roof. “You coming?”

After a couple minutes of Yuta helping a very nervous Mark onto the slippery shingles, they made themselves comfortable. It was a warm sleepy summer night, the sorta night that smelled like pollen and the freedom of school ending, the sorta night where teenagers sneak out their houses to skateboard until dawn. Mark took a deep breath. 

“What are you thinking about?” Yuta pulled his legs up and rested his chin on his knee. 

Mark didn’t even turn to face him. “Nothing.”

Yuta snorted. “Just static in there?”

“Yep.”

Mark laid back to stare at the stars. “Changkyun gave me a tarot reading.”

“Is that so? Usually he has a steep price on those. Jooheon complains about it every time. No friend discounts.” 

“Really? He didn’t really give me a choice on it. Sorta just sat me down and said ok tarot time.”

Yuta hummed softly. “What did you get?”

“He told me not to tell anyone.”

“You brought it up just to say it's a secret?” 

“Um..” Mark sat up. “I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. Sorry.”

Yuta slapped a hand on his heart. “I can’t believe you did me like this. I’ll never forget this betrayal!” 

Mark rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up.” He laughed softly. Somehow, talking with Yuta was so easy he felt like a good friend even though they barely knew each other. They chatted for a while, watching fat fireflies float past them occasionally. 

“Have you ever met your dad?” Mark was curious what the gods were like. Were they as awful as mythology made them out to be? Most demigods seems to find them a nuisance at best.

Yuta scratched the back of his neck. “No. Jooheon has though. On their quest. He said Aries just sorta has this aura, him just being around makes you angry. He makes you want to hit someone just by breathing.”

“Wow.” Mark couldn’t imagine himself feeling that violent. He had never been a violent person in the first place. “Is it because he’s related to him?”

“Nah. Apparently Changkyun almost decked him because he stepped on his foot.”

Mark whistled softly. “Damn.”

They talked until soft pinks appeared on the horizon, the beginnings of sunrise ushering them both back inside. When they crawled back in Changkyun was in his small kitchenette making breakfast. He watched them come back inside with a weird look on his face but didn’t say anything. Yoshi and Gucci sat on either side of him hoping for tasty scraps. 

Slowly everyone woke, Doyoung rose first, but was tangled with a still snoozing Taeyong and didn’t have the heart to wake him. Though Taeil didn’t have the same sentiment, tossing a knocked out Haechan off him onto the floor. Haechan didn’t even wake up. Eventually everyone piled into the tiny kitchenette and dug into a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and all sorts of other things Changkyun managed to dig out of his fridge. 

“Before you go.” Changkyun opened another door in the back of his shop, while the questers were shrugging on their backpacks and preparing to leave. “I’ve got something for you.” He dug through a small storage closet full of all sorts of strange items. Mark was even sure he saw a monkey hand in the far back that was very securely locked in a glass case. “Ah. Here they are.” He pulled out nine slightly dusty iphone boxes. He set them on the shop counter. “Thanks to some very generous donations from the Aphrodite cabin, I found a way to make phones safe for demigods to use.”

“Safe?” Mark asked, picking up one of the boxes. It seemed like a regular phone to him.

“Phones are pretty dangerous, they make it easier for monsters to find us. It’s like a beacon for them.” Doyoung explained, also grabbing a box and opening it carefully.

“Not these.” Changkyun said proudly. “It was a pain finding the right combination of spells to make this shit work, but these guys are monster proof. Also, they’re shock resistant. An elephant could step on it and it would be just fine. Survives up to 100,000 feet underwater and is fireproof.”

“Seems pretty demigod-proof.” Taeil tossed it up in the air and caught it easily.

“Don’t jinx it.” Yuta punched Taeil’s arm gently. “You’ll drop it weird and it’ll shatter.”

Taeil laughed but still seemed pretty nervous, pocketing it instead. After each demigod finished setting up their new devices Changkyun coughed lightly. “One last thing, for real this time. I tried to find out more last night about where you need to go. All I got was ‘South’ so. Go south I guess.”

Johnny shrugged. “Better than nothing. Will do.” He had been strangely quiet this whole time. Mark considered asking him what was up but then Yoshi and Gucci let out a mournful howl.

“Drama kings.” Changkyun huffed. “They’re sad you’re leaving. They wanted more of Jungwoo’s bacon. Anyways, good luck on your quest. We’ll be seeing eachother again I’m sure, and I’m expecting lots of good stories when we meet again.” He waved to them all the way until they left his little alley, his invisible sphere of protection. He would be lying if he said he wasn't scared for them. His quest, while fun, was the most terrifying thing he’d ever done and every day he was amazed he even survived. He sighed. “Poor saps.”

“Where the fuck is south?” Doyoung asked in annoyance. “Does anybody have a map?”

“I thought you were carrying the map?” Taeyong retorted. They were walking through the forest in honestly, gods know where. Mark assumed they were near the border of New York and Pennsylvania. “Anyway, we’re in the middle of nowhere, what's a damn map gonna do?” Jaehyun grumbled. “We’d be better off with a compass.”

“Oh! I have one of those!” Haechan rummaged around his bag and pulled out a small compass. “South is…. That way.” He pointed in the opposite direction to where they had been walking.

“Wonderful.” Johnny said from beside Mark. “Time to backtrack.” He seemed like he was in a pretty bad mood, but everyone was really. Except Yuta, he just seemed excited to be outside. It had started raining not long after they left Changkyun’s, and continued well into the afternoon leaving all of them completely soaked. Mark definitely regretted wearing a white t-shirt.

“Johnny?”

“What.” Mark had never seen him in such a bad mood, trudging through the mud like it personally offended him.

“What’s bothering you?”

“What’s bothering me? I dunno… the fact that I’m soaked from head to toe, my shoes are full of mud, and I still couldn’t fucking tell him.” He spat out that last part, clearly it had been on his mind for a while.

“Ah.” Mark adjusted his backpack straps. “I mean, he said we’d see him again so… Maybe you can try then?”

“If we survive that long.” Johnny replied bitterly. He then sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be acting like this.”

“Oh, it's fine!” Mark replied quickly. “Like, this kinda stuff happens. If it was me I dunno if I’d be able to tell him either.” He scratched the back of his head. “I mean, no one wants to be the bringer of bad news like that.”

Johnny nodded. “Yeah, but you don’t know how close they really are. Family, honestly. They all changed so much during that quest, they came back different people. Every one of them. In a way, I’m scared of what’ll happen to us.” Mark looked up at him in confusion.

“Like, it’s all fun and games now but we haven’t even encountered our first monster yet. We don’t know who’ll survive this thing and who won’t.” Johnny continued. “Demigods never live very long. Taemin is old for a demigod and he’s like 26.” 

“Seriously?” Mark asked, appalled. He knew life was dangerous for them, but he never really had a read on how bad it truly was. 

“Are you guys coming or what?” Jaehyun called from afar. During their conversation, Mark and Johnny had lagged pretty far behind. They eventually caught up to find a nice circular clearing. “This could be a nice place to spend the night.” Taeyong announced. 

“Isn’t this a little open?” Taeil scanned the area. “We should camp somewhere less obvious.” 

“We’re in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. How is this any more obvious than anywhere else.” Haechan dropped his bag and sat on it. “My feet hurt anyway. We may as well set up camp before nightfall.” And that they did, pulling out their sleeping bags and finding a good arrangement before settling down to eat. They couldn’t make a fire, that would attract all sorts of unpleasant things, so they settled for the military like rations Chiron had packed for them.

After dinner they played a raucous game of rock paper scissors to decide who would have first watch, and then settled in for the night. 

\----------------------------------------------

Markslowly woke to the chirping of crickets and the call of nature. He sat up in his sleeping bag and rubbed his eyes. Doyoung sat in the center of the clearing, clearly tired but still keeping a watchful eye on everyone. He turned when Mark sat up and waved to him. Mark waved back and then unzipped himself. “I gotta pee.” He whispered and Doyoung simply nodded and turned away. Mark excused himself into the woods to do his business. 

He was on his way back when he heard a muffled shout that was quickly cut off. He froze in his tracks. That sounded suspiciously like Doyoung. He pulled off his gold bracelet and tossed it lightly, turning it into his lightning bow. He gripped the single bolt and tip toed back to the campsite. When he arrived the place was a mess, several sleeping bags were missing and the ones remaining were empty of campers. Their backpacks were still stacked carefully where they had left them and there seemed to be no signs of an actual fight. 

As Mark approached the now empty camp site he felt a panic setting in. Whatever had done this was something extremely dangerous if it had managed to take every one of them so quickly and easily. He was about to set foot in the clearing when he got a horrible feeling. He looked closer at the grass to see it covered in a thin gossamer substance glistening in the moonlight. Carefully, he made his way around the clearing, avoiding any spot with the stuff on it. He didn’t know what it was but he was positive if he stepped on it it wouldn’t be good. The entire time he had his bow at the ready, prepared to fire at anything that lunged at him. He arrived at the opposite side of the clearing and found a long string connecting from the grass to a nearby tree. From that tree, to another one. A trail. Following this would certainly lead to whatever took them, and while Mark was absolutely terrified of whatever creature had stolen his friends he knew that this would not be his last monster encounter. That this would be the first of many. He took a deep breath, and started his trek.


End file.
